Squirrel Fun

For Easter, we were thrilled to join the Sullens at the Battle House on UNC's campus.  They direct the Baptist Student Ministries there, and we were excited to enjoy Easter lunch with them and some college students.  The adults were still at the table when Madeline came running in, shouting that Ryan had caught a squirrel.  Of course I did not believe her at first, but she was insistent.  I decided that I must go and see.  About a month ago, I told Ryan that if he could catch a squirrel, he could keep it.  That's a safe thing to say as a parent, right?  I mean, who can catch a squirrel. . . . . . . .well. . .our son managed to catch a squirrel.  I could not believe my eyes when I walked outside and saw Ryan holding a baby squirrel.  Of course we told him to put it down and let it be, but this little squirrel did not want to be let be.  Upon placing it on the ground, it scurried up a tree, only to come down and play on the top of Madeline's shoes.  After a period of time, Madeline picked it up and laid it in her lap.  The little guy was very content to be in her lap.  After about 30 minutes, it was hot, so Madeline decided to relocate to the front porch.  She placed the squirrel in the tree and began to walk to the front porch.  What did the squirrel do, you ask?  It followed Madeline all the way to the porch, waiting for her to pick it up.  So. . .we brought it up to the porch and just held it and pet it.  At one point, it crawled underneath Matt's shirt to find a cozy place to nest.  Of course there was no way we were taking the squirrel home.  As we were packing the car, Matt and Madeline placed the squirrel in the tree and walked away.  Again, the squirrel scurried down the tree and bounded after Madeline.  Again, we tried to place the squirrel in the tree, and again it bounded after Madeline.  So, then we took it home with us.  It fell asleep in a box on my lap, and it was at that moment that I fell in love with it.  On the way home we stopped at PetCo for food, and then stopped at our vet's/friend's house.  She informed us, that domesticating a squirrel was a very bad idea, and that we needed to contact a wildlife rehabilitator.  As soon as we got home, we contacted the rehabilitator, and scheduled a pick up.  We soon found out that the squirrel was 6 weeks old, and that its mom had probably died, and it had ventured out of the nest to find food and water.  It likely had other siblings.  So now, this adorable squirrel is going to be raised with another squirrel family for the next 6 weeks and then released into the wild.  Of course, that night, Madeline sobbed.  To help her through her grief, we have a stuffed squirrel arriving from Amazon tomorrow. . .so funny what you will do for your children!

Madeline and Ryan were SO gentle with the squirrel.  They both have great tenderness for animals.  It's really special to watch.

There she is, eating Kix cereal (the food at PetCo ended up being a waste of money. . .she just liked cereal).

We were actually able to hand feed it!

Confession. . .Matt and I were heartbroken to watch the dear squirrel go!  It was really a special and bonding time with our family.